“Bingo. I volunteered myself as a hairstylist’s apprentice purely to get closer to the Princess, but then I found the perfect Flowerfolk target. All the more entertaining since Ray kept getting blatantly jealous every time I made a move.”
The way Kirion spoke, he made it sound like Ray and I were a package deal, something I found mildly annoying. But then again, it was thanks to Ray and his stupid “Never mind, you aren’t my Bondmate” ordeal that I had kept a level head when Kirion told me I was his... Loath as I was to admit it, I was actually starting to feel grateful that the mix-up had happened.
“So you’re telling me your work history with the merchant was fabricated?”
“Obviously. Granted, I gave them the name of a real merchant in Vaxwald, but now that Dario’s actually investigating it, I’m sure the truth will come out any day now. I had a hell of a time forging a recommendation letter and putting together a collection of haircutting scissors.”
“For what it’s worth, you were actually pretty good at cutting hair. I watched you work on some of those servants.”
“What can I say? I’m good with my hands.” He grinned.
I furrowed my brow. “Then...that means you were the one who controlled Sir Ian’s mind and made him attack Her Highness.”
“Yep, that was me. But it ended in failure, so I was forced to use Sari next.”
“What about the time the hair ornaments went missing? Was that you, too?”
Suddenly it felt like every tiny incident at the castle was his doing, and I was eager for him to prove me wrong...but he didn’t. Instead, he smiled mischievously. “Of course it was.”
“Why would you do that?” I asked angrily.
“Because I wanted Patricia to think that someone in the castle didn’t like her. And I wanted to make you upset, naturally. Regrettably, it wasn’t quite enough to rile you up.”
“You were messing with me right from the start, weren’t you?”
“Duh. Though, to be clear, it was partially to make Sari jealous. Jealousy makes people impulsive, you see, and I wanted to make her more susceptible to my manipulation. But rest assured, I wanted to corrupt your heart right from the very first moment I laid eyes on you.”
Gee, thanks? I’m...flattered?
“Ray was a big part of it, too. I really like him—I think he’d do great things if he ever went rogue. And if his feelings for you grew dark and twisted... Frankly, even I couldn’t handle that. A Dragonkin’s love for their Bondmate really is something special, you know? It’s just marvelous.”
Then, out of nowhere, Kirion seized me by the throat—not to the point that I couldn’t breathe, but very nearly. I wheezed.
“I figured if I whisked you away from here, Ray would go nuts looking for you...but perhaps killing you would be more fun than some stupid game of hide and seek. I can only imagine his reaction upon finding your corpse.”
His lips were curled in an amused smile that didn’t reach his eyes. The contrast frightened me. He was a demon, through and through.
“Or maybe I’ll hurt your hand so badly, you can’t style hair anymore. I bet that would really crush your spirit...and seeing you in pain would hurt Ray, too. Oh, or maybe I should steal your innocence?” His eyes lit up like he sincerely thought this was a great idea. “Well, what do you think? Which would you prefer? The last one, I’m guessing?”
Still smiling, he seized the front of my dress, ripping the buttons and other decorations from the fabric and exposing my brassiere.
“Stop!”
I pulled his hair and punched his chest—anything to get away from him. My injured hand stung, but I couldn’t afford to worry about it right now.
“Ugh, this is so annoying...”
He scowled at my act of resistance, then started to recite something—some sort of incantation. I wasn’t sure what he was trying to do, but whatever it was, I knew I needed to stop him. My good hand was busy fending off his left hand, so I reached behind me with my injured hand, hoping to grab some sort of viable weapon off the shelf.
As fate would have it, my fingers came into contact with a decently thick hardbound book. There was no time to hesitate; I grabbed it and swung it at his head with all my might.
“Gah!” Kirion groaned and clapped both hands over the spot where I struck him.
Thank goodness for hardcover books, I thought.
On a whim, I peered down at my impromptu weapon—and realized it was a hardcover edition of Tales of Tribal Romance, of all things. Glancing back at the shelf I’d grabbed it from, I noticed there were several other editions of the same book, each with updated cover art as the years wore on. The oldest copy was practically falling apart.
“Were you trying to kill me?!” Kirion snarled, glaring at me reproachfully. “I can’t believe this! You’re no Flowerfolk! Flowerfolk are all a bunch of wimpy pacifists!”
“That’s what you get for underestimating us. Sorry to burst your bubble, but we’re not as ‘wimpy’ as everyone likes to think. We can put up a fight if we have to.”
Kirion looked at my injured left hand, still clutching the book. “You used your precious hands to hurt someone? Some hairstylist you turned out to be. You realize you’re just going to reopen your wound, right?”
“Don’t worry. As long as I still have a few functioning fingers, I should be able to style hair no problem. And right now, my hand matters less to me than beating the crap out of a scumbag who insults people right to their faces.”
“You bitch...”
This was quite the departure from the affable, devil-may-care persona I had come to associate with Kirion. Never before had I heard him use such foul language, and it felt like I’d discovered the real him. This turned out to be quite the freeing revelation.
“Mayna! Where are you?!”
I could hear Ray’s panicked voice in the hall outside the door, accompanied by a flurry of footsteps. Before I could call out to him, however, Kirion clapped a hand over my mouth.
“This is ridiculous. How did he find us so fast? Can Dragonkin sense where their Bondmate is at all times?” he muttered under his breath.
“Mmph! Mmmmph!” In spite of my muffled mouth, I tried my best to call for help.
“Are you in here?!”
The next instant, the door flew off its hinges and slammed to the floor.
“That door was locked, you know. Can’t you Dragonkin take a hint? Tsk...” Kirion clucked his tongue in frustration.
“Mayna!”
Kirion turned back to the sudden intruder, wearing his usual confident grin. “Hello there, Ray. You’re a bit early to the festivities.” He positioned me in front of him like a hostage.
It was hard to make out Ray’s expression in the dim lighting, but from what I could tell, he was downright enraged—far more so than he’d been back in Patricia’s room. The tension in the air was so electric, I half expected sparks to fly any second now.
But if Kirion had picked up on the same vibes I had, he certainly didn’t let it show. “I just thought of an even better idea. You’ve made me very angry, Mayna. So how about I kill Ray instead?”
Evidently I must’ve gotten him pretty good with the book attack...but personally, I would’ve preferred he took his anger out on me. Nevertheless, Kirion pushed me forward as though he were setting me free.
“Mayna!” Ray rushed over and pulled me into his arms. When he caught sight of my torn dress, he narrowed his eyes and adjusted my clothing. “Just sit tight while I end his life.”
His voice was gentle, but the look in his eyes was dead serious. He was furious.
“Are you going to fight me with a sword?” Kirion asked, his tone laced with amusement. “Personally, I’ll be using magic. Oh, and I don’t mind if we take this elsewhere, seeing as it would be kind of hard to swing a blade in here.”
“That won’t be necessary. Mayna, go stand over there.” Ray directed me over to the corner of the room. Once he made sure I was safe, he turned back to Kirion. “This won’t take long.”
“You sound awfully confident, considering you can’t cast a spell to save your—wait, what the?!”
All of a sudden, Ray’s body began to expand right before our eyes. I couldn’t see Kirion’s face from this vantage point, but I could only imagine how shocked he must have been.